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R400 Million Stolen in Nigerian Cyber Bank Heist
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Once in the bank they then proceeded to hack into the banks databases and started redistributing funds as they wished. They then moved money around to different accounts and increased the balance of other accounts possibly to cover their tracks.This heist follows the typical plot of any Hollywood heist movie; it started with an Inside Man. According to the Weekly Trust publication Godswill Oyegwa Uyoyou worked in the IT Department of the yet unidentified bank. He allegedly walked into the bank on a Saturday morning with his posse of cyber criminals pretending to be maintenance crew.
A spokesman for the EFCC has stated that not the entire amount was stolen as the criminals were interrupted during the heist. Regardless some money is missing and Mr Uyoyou is now a wanted man who is nowhere to be found.
The unfortunate thing is that this is not an isolated event, since 2013 Nigeria has lost R1.3 billion to internet fraud. The problem is also not restricted to Nigeria; globally the cost of online fraud is upwards of R1 Trillion.
In South Africa our banks are more secretive and are reluctant to release such figures to the public. The reputational damage of exposing a cyber-heist is immense and it could also advertise vulnerabilities to other Cyber criminals out there. But I have no doubt that such cases are just a prevalent in South Africa.
What this story from Nigeria highlights is that threats are not existent only on the outside but can also come from within.
What can we do ordinary citizens? Nothing. Fortunately the banks are insured and we will still get out money, but this just goes to show that anyone can be a victim of cyber-crime.